Digitization of public processes, electronic document management, electronic interaction with citizens and electronic services. A lot of people have heard these terms, however few of them understand what they mean, how this will affect lives of Ukrainians.
The Government headed by Volodymyr Groysman has worked on these issues for three years within the framework of a large-scale public governance reform, aimed at making high quality services available for citizens.
But what does all this mean? I will try to briefly explain, what we have actually done for these years in the area of digitization that not all people are able to comprehend. The Government’s accomplishments can be broadly classified into several categories.
1. Electronic Governance and Electronic Services
Electronic services available via gadgets on one stop shop basis. It is good, isn't it? There is no need in going somewhere: the most important thing is to have access to the Internet. 125 electronic services have already been introduced by the Government so far.
57 thousand citizens have already used the online registration service for individual entrepreneurs. That is, 57 thousand Ukrainians have decided to start their own businesses and provide services to citizens or produce goods, thus they contribute to economic development of our country.
Childbirth allowance: Formerly you had to wait in line at different institutions and obtain certificates. 69 thousand citizens have managed to easily receive allowance for their children through the electronic service.
Housing benefit: How to claim? What are the eligibility criteria? How much can you receive? Now you can find any information online, and 280 thousand Ukrainians have already applied for housing benefit with several clicks.
And what about certificates? – No problem! Thanks to online services, 160 thousand citizens have obtained certificates of non-conviction and 500 thousand people – extracts from the State Land Cadastre without standing in endless queues.
All these services can be accessed on the updated modern governmental website, which is not just a source of factual information, but acts as a single point of access to electronic services, provided by the state.
2. Electronic Document Management and Electronic Interaction between Registers
Piles of papers weighing hundreds of tons, mailing important documents. “Unfortunately, your order/directive/certificate has not been received yet. Well, you understand, it takes time for it to be delivered and signed. Please wait.” Yes, all of us have heard similar words more than once.
In order to forget this unpleasant experience, the Cabinet of Ministers and all central authorities migrated to an electronic document exchange system as of August 15, 2016. And now email correspondence accounts for over 80%.
673 public agencies across the country have been connected to the interdepartmental electronic document management system. Every day, they exchange over 5,400 documents exclusively in an electronic format. This means that there is no need in stamps or envelopes, no need to wait for an officer responsible for sending correspondence to return from lunch – all this is history now. Any document can be dispatched just with a few clicks.
We have piloted an electronic system for approving draft regulations issued by the CMU directly within the government. This resulted in a significant increase in the efficiency of this important process and sped up decision making.
3. Electronic Identification
Fortunately, this is not about a chip in a head. This is about the Integrated Electronic Identification System which has been implemented and combines all types of identification, in particular MobileID (mobile identification), when a digital signature is stored on a SIM-card, and BankID (bank identification), which significantly simplified interaction with databanks. This will allow you to sign electronic documents and applications using your telephone or through your Bank.
13.5 million citizens have already been entered in the electronic demographic register. Now there will be no need in searching paper archives for necessary information, and over 3 million citizens have received new passports issued in the form of ID cards by this time.
4. Open Data
A modern state does not hide information in archives, on the contrary, it makes information publicly available and provides its citizens with an easy access to data.
A public open data portal (data.gov.ua) was created with the assistance of the government. And over 60 thousand public data sets have been made public thanks to Decree No. 835 of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. These include the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, register of vehicles, tax registers, etc., that are used by hundreds of thousands of citizens.
Such progress, made by Ukraine in the area of digitization, has not gone unnoticed by the global community. Ukraine ranked as the global leader according to the electronic governance development rate over the last four years.
However we should not rest on our laurels, as we have a lot of work to do. It is known that electronic interaction between the state and its citizens is the best prevention strategy against corruption.
Our immediate plans include introduction of the E-Baby Service that will allow Ukrainians via an ordinary smart phone with just a few clicks to register the place of residence of their child, file an application for childbirth allowance, register their child with a healthcare system and on the register of taxpayers, and obtain a large family certificate. No endless queues, no officials, no rejections and no need to wait!
We plan to implement an artificial intelligence system and develop a human resource management information system for public services and other systems in the near future, but it is a little more complex issue.
The State in a Smartphone guarantees that public services can be accessed as easy as to order a pizza. And this already works!
The most important thing is not to be satisfied with what has already been achieved, but to move forward regardless of political disputes, economic challenges and other problems.
Keep Calm & Make Reforms Happen
Oleksandr Saienko, especially for the Ukrainska Pravda
